Former President John Dramani Mahama is leaving Accra today for Monrovia to lead the Observer Mission of ECOWAS to the October 10, 2017 Liberian general elections.
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A statement from Mahama’s office Thursday said "Mahama is leaving Accra today for Monrovia to lead the Observer Mission of ECOWAS to the October 10, 2017 Liberian general elections.
"As former Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Mahama has been celebrated for his commitment to ensuring the stability of the sub-region and the continent generally."
Below is the full statement:
As former Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Mahama has been celebrated for his commitment to ensuring the stability of the sub-region and the continent generally.
His tenure as Chair saw the quick handling of various sub-regional crisis including the Burkinabe Political turmoil, the election dispute in Togo and the outbreak of Ebola in three West African countries including Liberia.
Since leaving Office in January, President Mahama has been helping to entrench democracy and stability in Africa. He has also been working with the African Development Bank to help improve agriculture.
Liberia votes
In landmark elections slated for October 10, Liberians will vote in the country’s third postwar presidential and legislative races.
Incumbent Ellen Johnson Sirleaf — Africa’s first female president — is ineligible to run because of constitutionally mandated term limits. So January 2018 will mark the first time in recent memory that a democratically elected Liberian president will hand power to a similarly elected head of state.
A nation of 4.5 million people, Liberia is a sliver of a country in West Africa founded in 1847 by black migrants from the United States, the Caribbean and the Congo River basin. Clashes between these settlers and the 16 ethnic groups already occupying the territory spiraled Liberia into more than a century of political upheavals.